Colorado town and county adopt new wildfire codes
Pitkin County and Aspen, Colo., adopted new wildfire resilient building codes in respective meetings last week. For both the county and city, the new codes are not a major jump in their past wildfire mandates. However, these new codes focus on the structural hardening for new projects. This requires new homes to be built using fire-resistant materials, which does treated wood. Retrofitting current buildings is not required unless a project would already plan to replace more than a quarter of the current structure or expand over 500 square feet.
“It’s not a retrofit code, so it’s not going to make you do something to your house when you’re not doing anything,” Jeffrey Erickson, Pitkin County chief building official, said. “There is a 25% rule: If you’re replacing 25% of your existing covering, the whole home has to come up to code … the roof is the same (as siding). And then, any additions 500 square feet or greater, including decks and floor area, will mean bringing your home up to code.”
